Should I buy an SSD now or wait?

[SickBeast]

I'm looking to spend $100-150 on an SSD.

In terms of capacity, all I really need is 30GB for my OS and apps, however more would be great so I could dump a few games on there.

My motherboard only supports SATA2, so anything faster than 250mb/sec is a waste until I upgrade my motherboard.

The new Micron C400 looks very nice, but it's not out until the 26th. Should I wait for it, or just buy something now?

TIA

 

[(sic)Klown12]

Since you're stuck at SATA2, just get a C300 drive now. It is more than fast enough for an OsS/App drive and a C400, while technically faster, probably won't feel like a large upgrade for the vast majority of situations.

 

[bigpimpatl]

Hi,

when deciding on technology purposes, a good rule of thumb is to evaluate your uses and needs. Do you need an SSD? will it make you more productive? will you get your work done faster? do you run hard disk intensive applications that will greatly benefit from an SSD? There will always be something new around the corner, don't worry about that, just get whatever you need at the price you are willing to pay.

I heard games don't benefit as much from SSD, but I could be wrong.

 

[SickBeast]

Hi,

when deciding on technology purposes, a good rule of thumb is to evaluate your uses and needs. Do you need an SSD? will it make you more productive? will you get your work done faster? do you run hard disk intensive applications that will greatly benefit from an SSD? There will always be something new around the corner, don't worry about that, just get whatever you need at the price you are willing to pay.

I heard games don't benefit as much from SSD, but I could be wrong.

I just want my computer to be zippy fast when I use it. My system is fairly current; I just want to have everything open up instantly seeing as it's possible with a decent SSD.

You're right about gaming, but really, unless you spend $400 on a 250gb SSD, you're not going to have room on one for games anyhow.

I'm torn between getting a C300 now and waiting for a C400. It's only a couple of weeks away.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Buy now - a C300 should be wonderful! The C400 would be great too, but for a boot drive, your main concerns are random read and sequential read. The C300 is actually a lot faster at random read (the real cause of a fast "feel" for your computer), and faster at sequential read too.

 

[etrigan420]

I voted to wait.

But I'm a stubborn ass and demand my storage to be $0.50/GB

Honestly, I just don't think it would benefit me that much.

Plus, and I know that I'll catch hell for saying this, but I just really can't see having a 30GB drive in my system...

 

[SickBeast]

Yeah it's hard to fathom paying $150 for 64gb when you could get a 3tb spindle drive for the same price.

I'll probably go with the C300 once I can find it in stock for a decent price. Is $120 for a 64mb drive a decent price?

 

[Termie]

Yeah it's hard to fathom paying $150 for 64gb when you could get a 3tb spindle drive for the same price.

I'll probably go with the C300 once I can find it in stock for a decent price. Is $120 for a 64mb drive a decent price?

That's not the right way to think about it. If you needed 3TB of slow storage, you'd already have made up your mind.

But that's not what you need. You need 30GB of fast storage. A spindle isn't going to give you that. Same reason someone buys 4GB of DDR3-2000 over 8GB of DDR3-1066, even if the smaller amount costs more. Speed, pure and simple. But the analogy is even more extreme with SSDs - yes, the hit in capacity is worse than with the DDR3 example, but the increase in speed is greater in nearly the same proportion.

Got my Agility 2 for $100 in October...now I'd probably recommend this Corsair 60GB for $130: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820233124

While everyone was waiting for prices to drop, manufacturers wised up and raised the prices!

I'm not a big fan of those Crucial 64GB drives - they just take too big a hit in performance versus their larger cousins, whereas the Sandforce 60GB drives are still blazing fast.

 

[jjmIII]

....always wait

 

[Drsignguy]

The c300/128GB is a very good SSD. Have plenty of room for the OS (win7) and then some. So if your looking to spend $100 - $150, I think the 64 is in that price range. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148357 I have a vertex 2, Agility 2, and the C300 and it is definitely the better of the 3. Not to say the OCZ aren't fast but the c300 is faster...........

 

[Bill Brasky]

I'm just waiting for a decent drive for ~ $120 that about 80 gigs, $150 tops.

 

[RU482]

Buy now - a C300 should be wonderful! The C400 would be great too, but for a boot drive, your main concerns are random read and sequential read. The C300 is actually a lot faster at random read (the real cause of a fast "feel" for your computer), and faster at sequential read too.

Hmm, are there any reviews that quantify "feel...a lot faster"? I mean, in terms of "the C300 boots x seconds faster than the C400", or something along those lines.

 

[span01]

I'd have a look at the C300 or the Intel 320. Whichever you get will be so much faster the a regular drive so I wouldn't be too concerned which performs at the very top in benchmarks. I got an Intel since they feel reliable although C300 does seem to perform better. I'm also stuck with Sata 2 for another year or so, waiting wont really bring any significant changes to Sata 2 performance.